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Oregon Senate Passes Marine Reserves Bill

Otter Rock is one of one of the first marine reserve sites to be closed to fishing off the Oregon coast. If the House of Representatives passes a bill in the Legislature this session, another three sites on the north and central coast will be added to the state's network of protected areas.

Today the Oregon Senate voted 25-5 to approve three new marine reserves in state coastal waters.

Senate Bill 1510 restricts fishing in ocean areas at Cape Falcon, north of Manzanita, Cascade Head, north of Lincoln City, and Cape Perpetua, between Florence and Newport. It’s based on recommendations from stakeholder groups, and it still needs approval from the Oregon House of Representatives and a signature from the governor to become law.

Two pilot marine reserves have already been established at Redfish Rocks near Port Orford and Otter Rock near Lincoln City.

Altogether, the five reserves make up less than 10 percent of the state’s territorial sea, which stretches out three miles from the coast. Both California and Washington have already roped off some protected areas in their coastal waters. Oregon has been debating the issue and working through a marine reserve planning process for nearly a decade.

Supporters of marine reserves say fishing restrictions protect the marine habitat and boost fish populations, which can have a positive spillover effect for fisheries. But critics in Oregon who have opposed marine reserves say the fishing restrictions would cause unnecessary damage to coastal economies and fishing businesses.

A map of the "network" of marine reserves that will be set aside for protection if Senate Bill 1510 becomes law.

Before the Senate vote today, Sen. Betsy Johnson (D-Scappoose) said the bill is the result of years of negotiation and compromise, and that it has been “negotiated down” from 20 sites that would have covered 50 percent of the state’s territorial sea.

Several stakeholder groups were set up to recommend marine reserve sites that were large enough to provide meaningful environmental protection and small enough to prevent harm to coastal communities that depend on fishing.

But if SB 1510 passes, marine reserve opponents won’t get their wish to cap the state network at two pilot reserves. Johnson said some of her constituents don’t want to add another reserve at Cape Falcon, but she argued the alternative would be “a ballot measure that has the potential to tie up the entire Oregon Coast” and that would mean “Armageddon” for coastal economies.

Sen. Fred Girod (R-Stayton) voted against the bill today, calling it “a gun-to-the-head piece of legislation” that would unnecessarily hurt the sportfishing industry he represents.

“There have been no documented endangered species within those areas that I’m aware of,” he said. “This is simply a way of tying up the sea much the way we did the forests.”

Sen. Jeff Kruse (R-Roseburg) said he sees the bill as the beginning of a 10-year pilot project that doesn’t set anything in stone. It would direct Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife to report on the impact of the marine reserves by 2023.

“We’re not doing this because marine reserves are good,” he said. “I think the jury is still out on that. The point is to determine whether marine reserves are good on the Oregon coast. … If in the end it proves these set-asides are valuable, then we can start a discussion on what the next step will be.”

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